Oh Florence.... Past Review
By Kelli A (PSYCHOLOGY., Western Washington University) for
AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence and Internship Program
My study abroad experience was definitely different from others, especially since I completed an internship. I was super busy all the time and still had two classes so I think it is just different. The program was overall pretty good but there were still some significant issues that I had to deal with that definitely made my experience not as good as it could have been.
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was more than I was expecting - One of my classes had very impractical expectations of us seeing as that professor gave us assignments that we had not even learned about yet. We had to teach ourselves how to make a marketing business plan and generally people have an entire semester to complete that work and we had 2 weeks. It was a ridiculous circumstance that hopefully will not reoccur. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program was pretty good overall. They offer a meal plan which is the main reason I chose this program and it was so worth it. You would never be able to eat in Florence for any cheaper and we got to go to restaurants almost every night which was incredible since Florence is SO EXPENSIVE! They also had good excursions and a lot of the staff was very helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My apartment was very close to school. A big city is generally not considered "safe" but in terms of other Italian cities Florence is very safe. We were supplied with dishes, sheets, and literally everything which was super nice. Our apartment was pretty nice and every room had its own bathroom. We personally were a little further from the bars/clubs than others but with this program students are placed in random spots so you are either close to the school or the bars so either way you have to walk somewhere (but at least everything is within 20ish minutes walking!) |
| * Food: |
Duh it's Florence! Our meal plan, again, was the best part of the program. Other programs are the exact same amount of money but we get almost all of our food included at nice and popular restaurants. Super worth it! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Our excursions were great- to Venice and Rome, but there is a LOT of museum going and tours. Great at first but gets tiring, but at least our tour guide was really cool. The school had a lot of social activities planned each week and on some Fridays there were field trips to small towns close to Florence that were so worth it. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
This program had health insurance included and I went to the doctor and it was fine. He spoke English, was available the same day I called, and it was really painless. Florence is a city so you should just be aware of theft and walking around alone at night. I mean, that is common sense, but overall Florence isn't too scary because people are ALWAYS out and about. Just be smart and stay with friends! |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
As part of the internship we were also required to take a 2 week intensive Italian course as well as a semester of Italian. In Italy it is notorious for being a tourist town with a lot of English but I somewhat disagree. There are a LOT of Florentines that do not speak any English and knowing basic Italian is crucial to getting around on the bus system, directions, meeting Italians at the bars, and finding non touristy attractions. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | This program is great because of the meal plan, excursions, and if you are not doing the internship then you generally have no classes on Fridays. The one thing I can recommend to people considering studying in Florence is to just do it! It is a great place to study because it is big yet small, you can walk everywhere, and it is more relaxing and full of culture than Rome. Rome is too big, the metro system is AWFUL, and you can't walk everywhere which is a huge bummer. When we all went on our excursion to Rome we honestly all were like THANK GOODNESS we chose Florence we would die here. |
